Gone
by Mazzie May
Summary: I thinks it's weird how close Marlene and Loz were with no explanation. And she got away with no notices, too. Here are my thoughts. Second and final chapter up. Not a romance! Rated K
1. Common Ground

**Author's Note: This is not romance. For God's sake, believe me!**

**Summary: Marlene and Loz bond on the way to meet the others.**

**Rating: K, I think. Maybe K plus.**

**Gone**

_By: Mazzie May_

Marlene looked up, down, left, right, then to Loz. Then up, down, left, right again. She'd never been to such a lovely place. Everything was glowing softly, and snow-like fire flies were floating around the air. It was beautiful.

And Marlene really wished she had the chance to enjoy it more, maybe do a little bit of exploring. But she didn't dare let go of the man, Loz. He hadn't done any harm to her since they left Sister's church, but she didn't want to push it.

Though very mature and smart for her age, Marlene was still only six and a half. She was tired. All this traveling wore her out. She wished that Loz would've let them ride his motorcycle all the way to where ever they were going. It was pretty cool to Marlene, though she'd never voice it.

She yawned. Loudly. Loz stopped, but she walked forward a bit before he pulled her back quickly. Before she realized what was happening, he had her up in the air. And before she could scream, she was being held against something tough, and warm.

Loz had picked her up. He looked at her with a very large grin. She swallowed, rewarding him with a timid smile. He began walking again, still smiling. Marlene didn't really want to be held by him, but she was so tired. She ended up resting her head on his shoulder as they continued. He ran a hand over the top of her head. She flinched.

That was when Loz began to speak.

"We have to help each other out, you know." Marlene didn't move. "Because we're family." He paused, making a bit of a face. "Well, you're not really family, but I'm sure Mother will accept you."

"'Mother'?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yes, Mother. She'll help unit the whole family, so we can fight the others!"

"….that can't be right."

Loz stopped and looked over at her, a face of bewilderment. Marlene leaned back, her hands on his shoulder. "What mother would want her children to fight?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She continued. "Mother's want their children to avoid violence, and live happy lives."

"We can't be happy until the traitors are all dead!"

Marlene frowned. "How can that be?"

Loz held his chin high, stating proudly, "When we find Mother, she'll choose either Kadaj or Sephiroth to lead us-"

"She'll _choose_!" Marlene looked at him, horrified.

Loz set her down, looking at her curiously. "…what?"

"What do you mean she'll _choose_? That's, that's terrible!" Her small hands were drawn together at her chest. "A mother loves all over her children! There isn't one that is more important than the others!"

He continued to look down at her, as if he didn't believe her.

She reached out and took his hand. "You don't think that you're less than…" It took her a moment to remember his name. "…Kadaj? Or Sephiroth? Or, uhm-"

"Yazoo" he informed her.

She nodded. "Yeah, Yazoo. You think they're better than you?"

"….No, we're brothers" But he sounded uncertain.

Marlene dropped his hand, and turned away from him. "…I don't have a mother, either, you know."

Loz looked sad a moment, but quickly perked up. "See? You can be with us, and have a mother!" He was talking quickly, excitedly. But Marlene shook her head.

"I don't know anything about her. She died when I was a baby, so I don't have any memories. I don't have any pictures. Papa doesn't even remember much about her…" She was looking down when she turned to him. "But…" she looked up, her eyes shiny with tears. "But I look at all the kids who do have mothers, or who have memories of their mothers. All the kind and gentle things a mother says. All the ways a mother makes you feel better. A mother will hold her child's hand no matter what."

Loz slowly sat on the ground, understanding what she was saying. All those wonderful, motherly things. Would Mother really do those things? He wanted to believe that she would.

"Can you picture your mother doing that?"

Loz closed his eyes, determined to envision Mother doing all of those wonderful things. But he couldn't. He couldn't imagine any of it. He looked at the girl, now angry. He stood.

"Why! Why can't I see those things?"

Marlene reached out for his hand again. "You can't because you've never seen her. You have nothing to work with." She was sniffling. "When you see mother's with their children, you just feel the want to have it. Nothing else." Loz began to protest, but she pressed on. "But I get jealous!" She looked up at him with angry eyes. "I was raised around mothers who loved their children! I know how it feels to be loved by a mother, but I don't get that love!" She was sobbing now. "You never felt it, so you can't miss it. But I've felt it!"

_My name's Aeris, Tifa asked me to take care of you._

"She showed me that kind of love!"

_You'll be safe with me. You'll stay with me until your Papa comes for you._

"But she's gone now! All gone now!" She pounded on Loz's abdomen. "Gone!" She hit him harder with every word.

_Would you like a flower, Honey?_

"Gone!"

_Good night, honey._

"Gone!"

_When I have a daughter, I hope she's just like you!_

"Gone!"

_Marlene, honey, I love you._

"GONE!"

She slid to the ground crying. All he could do was watch her, try and understand. He had no right to speak of emptiness when it came to this. He stood there for a while, thinking, as she hugged his leg, crying. Crying for what had come and gone, and will never come back again.

They stayed like that for a while. The man with the understanding of a child. The child, with heartache of an adult. It was a terrible feeling, this kind of alone. _He's lucky,_ Marlene thought angrily. _It's not hard being alone when you don't have to watch people be together! _

Over the last two years Marlene did not cry. Not about her loses. And here, it all came out. She felt heaviness on shoulders. She looked up, and found Loz, squatting down. He pulled her into a tight hug.

And the two cried together.

For what he never had.

For what she lost.

An hour past. They calmed down, little by little, as they watched each fire fly float by, and felt the glow of the trees. The place was calming.

She wiped at her face with her tiny hands, still trapped against his chest. "I don't like not having a mother, either, you know." Her small voice was horse from all her hollering and sobbing. "And I want a mother, too."

"But you don't try and destroy the world to get one," Loz muttered. He nodded to himself, having finally decided. He stood, still holding her. Loz was going to have a talk with Kadaj and Yazoo.

He resumed walking towards the meeting point, running his gloved hand over her hair. She didn't flinch this time, simply remained curled against him, hiccupping softly.

_Yes,_ he thought more seriously, reaching the meeting point. He set her down, nodding to his bothers. She clung to his waist, her head at his hip. He didn't remove his hand from her shoulder.

_A VERY important talk about Mother._

**Author's Note: …for some reason I don't quite like how it came out. But I've sat here for two hours, and can't think of how to change it. Regardless. This is dedicated to TheDonutMistress who talked with me about this fic. **

**R&R if you're up to it!**


	2. Parting

**Author's Note: Might as well finish up the thought, right?**

**Summary: Both equally determined by different things, Loz and Marlene part**

**Rating: K, I'd say**

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Gone**

Chapter Two: Parting

_By: Mazzie May_

Marlene sucked in her breath hard, nearly hissing as Cloud was sent flying from his motorcycle. Loz's grip on her shoulder tightened with her tensing, and she moved closer to his leg. They were behind the lake, where Denzel and the others were.

When Kadaj had changed the water, the children drank. Marlene had been drawing to the water, too, but Loz held her back, sort of hugging her to him. Whatever the black water did, Loz didn't want her to be apart of it. Look at them all now, she was very glad he stopped her.

Kadaj started talking. Ranting, really. Marlene slid father behind Loz. Kadaj scared her more than any of them. Not that she found Loz scary—not anymore, anyway. But Kadaj had something wrong with him. She really didn't know what, but what bothered her most was how when he spoke, he was looking past the person he was talking to. Like, he was seeing something that no one else could. It made her feel weird.

She didn't understand what they were talking. He wanted a "Reunion", and Cloud was in the way of that was pretty much the gist of what she got. And then, the fighting started.

Loz moved away from her, but she pulled on his belt. She wasn't sure if it was to keep him from hurting Cloud, or Cloud from hurting him. He moved her hands. She grabbed him again and tugged harder.

Yazoo had joined the battle.

Loz turned, picked her up, walked to the bushes and put her down. "Wait right here…" he said quietly before running into the fray.

She couldn't keep up with them, they were so fast. She dropped down to her knees, scared and angry. Someone was going to get hurt, she knew. Looking down, determined not to cry, she saw it. A little yellow and white flower. It seemed just as small and fragile as she did.

No one's going to die here. 

Was what it seemed to be saying. Marlene reached out and touched it. "Flower Lady…"

A sudden silence had her look up, but she quickly ducked back down as the familiar sound of gunshots filled the air. Papa had always taught her to drop when guns were being fired. Flat on the ground, she saw little, except for the red thing that flew off into the sky.

As Kadaj howled in anger, she felt someone picking her up. Loz pushed her deeper into the brush. "You've got to leave. Kadaj knows you know Older Brother."

She gasped wide-eyed. He wanted her to wander around this place on her own? When she didn't move, he began pushing her gently again, stepping into the foliage with her. He hurried them along quietly. "He took Older Brother that way," he whispered pointing west. "Go that way."

"But—"

"Loz!" Kadaj's voice carried over the brush. "Loz, bring me that girl!"

"Go!" he whispered again, harsher. He stood, heading back the way they came, yelling, "She ran off!"

"Don't cry, Loz!" Yazoo giggled.

"I am not!"

"Find her!"

He looked back at her, with a saddened expression. She began to move away, bit her lip, and turned around. She gave him a small smile and a little wave. He did the same.

"G'bye…" she whispered sadly.

They were too far away, he couldn't hear her, but he knew. "…Bye bye" he returned.

She began jogging away down the little path. Every time she looked back, he was there, watching her go, still waving a little. When she reached a large rock, she stopped to catch her breath and looked back again.

He was gone.

Marlene suddenly felt like crying. She almost did, too, until she heard voices. She began to bolt away until she realized one of the voices was Cloud. Loz had been right. They did go that way. He was probably getting yelled at for letting her "get away", but he helped her anyway.

Determined to not let that gesture go to waste, she broke into the fastest run her little legs would allow, making lots of noise as she crashed through the unique flora—

--right into Cloud.

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Author's Note: And there you go. I figured since I wrote something on how they came together, I might as well follow it up with how they separated. I like the Marlene/Loz friendship I idea. I mean, I'd never let the guy baby-sit or anything, but he seems to get along well with the children. I bet he was the one who was in Midgar luring the Geostygma infecties into the trucks.**

**R&R Please**


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